Weekend Wrap: World Rowing Beach Sprints and Masters Regatta Run Overseas
Two World Rowing events featuring Ontario rowers took place last week as the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals and World Rowing Masters Regatta took centre stage on the international rowing calendar. Meanwhile on the domestic front, the first ever Row Ontario Cup was run in the nation’s capital.
The Beach Sprint Finals were run in Genoa, Italy at San Nazaro Beach from Sept. 13-15, just one week after the World Rowing Coastal Championships were hosted at the same location. The regatta featured athletes from around the world, including several from Ontario, competing in rowing’s newest Olympic discipline. The athletes battled huge waves throughout the competition, as the adverse weather conditions impacted the schedule on the first day of the event. A second time trial round was cancelled, leaving the crews who finished 1-16 in the first time trial round to advance to the knockout stage.
Two Canadian boats advanced past the time trials as the Don Rowing Club’s Sarah Pidgen (W1x) and the Montreal Rowing Club’s Ella-Rose Duval & Rachel Nicolaidis (JW2x) each moved on to the round of 16. Pidgen lost her knockout stage matchup to the second-seeded Teresa Diaz Moreno (Spain) by nine seconds while Duval and Nicolaidis were also topped a Spanish boat, as they dropped their matchup by 14 seconds. A total of seven Canadian boats competed in the event, six of which featured Ontario athletes including Pidgen (W1x, Mixed 2x), Autumn Prior (JW1x – Orillia Rowing Club), Aubrey Oldham (M1x, Mixed2x – Leander Boat Club), Oliver Brennan (JM1x, JMixed2x – Kingston Rowing Club), and Kaie Bain (JMixed2x – Kingston Rowing Club).
The World Rowing Masters Regatta ran from Sept. 11-15 in Brandenburg, Germany on the Beetzsee Regatta Course, the site of several past Junior and U23 World Championship events. The massive regatta featured almost 5000 entries from 721 clubs from across the world, with 51 countries represented at the event. A total of 12 clubs from Canada participated in the regatta, including four from Ontario, two from Quebec, two from Nova Scotia, one from Alberta and three from BC. The Ontario clubs represented were the London Western Rowing Club, Hanlan Boat Club, Ridley Graduate Boat Club and Guelph Rowing Club.
The LWRC sent the largest contingent to Brandenburg with their members participating in 16 different boats. London’s masters rowers performed admirably throughout the five-day competition, earning two first-place finishes, three second-place finishes, and six third-place finishes in their respective finals. Many of the LWRC’s athletes competed in several races throughout the week with some earning multiple medals. The Ridley Graduate Boat Club was represented by Lynn Krahulec who competed in five different composite crews during the event, earning two second and third place finishes. The Hanlan Boat Club’s Kelly Brigley and Alison Collins-Mrakas also finished third in the WD 2x.
In Ottawa, the Row Ontario Cup was run on the Ottawa River on Saturday, Sept. 14. The innovative event featured a new competition model with athletes competing in small boats (1x, 2x, or 2-), in a series of promotion-relegation races, over short sprint distances (250m or 500m). The format allowed for more racing for athletes throughout the day against similarly skilled competition. Five clubs participated in the inaugural event including the Island Lake Rowing Club, Kingston Rowing Club, Nipissing University Rowing Club, Ottawa Rowing Club and Laval Rowing Club.
For full results from the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals, visit World Rowing
For full results from the World Rowing Masters Regatta, visit RegattaCentral
For full results from the Row Ontario Cup, visit RegattaCentral
For the full regatta schedule in Ontario, visit the Row Ontario website.
Photo is property of World Rowing.
